Bar soap holder



Sept. 18, 1962 L. H. HAWK ETAL BAR SOAP HOLDER Filed Feb. 27, 1961 Leonard H. Hawk Elmer G. Sfac'j r INVENTORS United States Patent Ofilice 3,054,211 Patented Sept. 18, 1962 3,054,211 BAR SOAP HOLDER Leonard H. Hawk, 1913 C St., Washougal, and Elmer G. Stacy, Box 769, Camas, Wash. Filed Feb. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 91,929 Claims. (Cl. 45-28) Our invention concerns a soap holder for supporting a cake of soap upon a base and within a retaining member which is open at its top and bottom. It is pivotally mounted upon the base so that the cake of soap may be retained against inadvertent movement out of said base but may easily be removed therefrom when the soap retaining member is swung laterally upon its pivot axis.

A specific object of our invention is to provide a soap holder of this character that is simple, sturdy, inexpensive to manufacture, capable of being secured to a vertical support such as a wall surface, or otherwise mounted therein or thereon, but readily to be useable, both to place a cake of soap therein and to remove one therefrom.

Other and further details of our invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a soap holder embodying our invention, showing in dotted outline suction cup mounting devices by which it may be secured to a vertical surface;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, showing alternate devices for mounting said soap holder upon a wall;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a soap holder embodying our invention, illustrating the position of the parts as they stand when they are in soap-retaining position; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section through said soap holder taken on the line 44 in FIG. 1, showing in dashed lines the manner in which the soap retainer may be swung to discharge position.

A soap holder embodying our invention comprises a base 1 having a generally horizontally disposed floor portion 2 and a vertical back portion 3.

Pivotally secured to said base is a soap-retaining member 4 having an open top portion or mouth 5 and an open bottom portion 6 constituting a discharge aperture. Said soap-retaining member preferably is of rectangular shape to accommodate a cake of soap of similar contour. It is not essential that said soap-retaining member be of rectangular contour. It may be made to conform to any shaped cake of soap to be lodged therein.

To provide easy access to insert a cake of soap through said open-top portion, a front wall 7 is preferably shallower or shorter than back Wall 8. Side walls 9 and 10 are preferably taller htan the front wall 7 so that a cake of soap will be held against inadvertent lateral movement within the soap-retaining member.

At the upper portions of the vertical back portion 3 of the base are two upstanding ears 11 having recesses 13 upon their inner faces. Complementary studs 12 are formed upon the side Walls 9 and 10 of the soap-retaining member to receive these studs. The side walls of the retaining member are relatively flexible and thus, may be sprung inwardly to permit disengagement of the studs with the apertures or to cause them to spring outward to engage the aperture when the soap-retaining member is mounted in the base.

The soap-retaining member may swing radially about an axis extending through said studs, as is indicated in FIG. 4. In the absence of an external force said soapretaining member will hang pendent, as is shown in full lines in FIG. 4, and rest in close proximity to the adjacent face of the vertical b ack portion 3'.

When the cake of soap is to be removed therefrom it is rotated clockwise, as indicated in dashed outline in FIG. 4, and the bottom of the soap retainer will sweep beyond the floor portion 2 and cause the cake of soap to drop into the users hand. Said fioor portion preferably has an upwardly extending lip 2a over which the soap must pass to be discharged. Said lip normally retains the soap upon the base and together with the pendent mass of the soap-retaining member prevents the latter from swinging inadvertently to discharge position, as indicated in dashed outline in FIG. 4. The lower edge of the front wall of the soap-retaining mem ber is formed into "a bead 7a and a portion of the wall adjacent said bead is curved upon a radius from the remainder of said front wall. This permits the user to grip the beaded edge of the wall without possibility of cutting his fingers and to move the soap-retaining member to discharge position, as shown in dashed outline in FIG. 4.

The upper face of the floor portion of the base is provided with upwardly standing webs 15 to promote reinforcement, as well as to hold the cake of soap above the tray portion of said base floor. Ribs 16 are also arranged upon the inner face of the back wall of the soap-retaining member for a like purpose. The side walls 9 and 10 of the soap-retaining member extend rearwardly from the back portion thereof so as to come into approximate alinement with the back portion of the vertical back portion of the face so as to maintain square clean lines when the device is in position as shown in FIG. 3.

If the soap holder is to be placed temporarily in position this may be done by flexing the walls of suction cups 17, which normally extend vertically beyond the back margin of the back portion 3 of the base 1, as is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. If the soap holder is to be fixed more or less permanently in place this may be done by a pair of wood screws 18 that engage the vertical wall or support (not shown). Both fastening devices may be used simultaneously, but we do not believe that it is necessary or desirable when the soap holder is fixed more or less permanently in place.

When the soap holder is mounted upon a Wall or other vertical support, a cake of soap is inserted, usually with its side or edge downwardly, if the cake of soap is rectangular it remains at rest therein, being supported above the floor portion 2 of the base. When it is to be removed from the soap retaining member the latter is swung clockwise, as shown in dashed outline in FIG. 4, and the cake of soap slides obliquely over the lip 2a of the cfloor portion into the hands of the user. When it is to be returned to the soap-retaining member which has then returned to pendent position with the base, it may be slipped in the usual fashion through the open mouth 4 of said soap-retaining member. If the back wall upon which the soap holder is to be mounted is in some form of recess, this may be accommodated because the side walls of our soap holder are plane and parallel. The depth of such recess should be shallower than the thickness of the soap holder so that the forward bead 7a may readily be gripped and manipulated when soap is to be removed from the holder.

The several ribs 15 and 16 also hold the faces of the edge of the soap away from all plane metallic parts of the holder and the soap-retaining member so that the cake of soap will readily dry while it is thus supported.

We claim:

1. A soap holder, comprising a base having a gen erally horizontal floor portion and a vertical back portion, a soap-retaining member pivotally joined at its upper end to the upper vertical back portion of the base,

said retaining member being open at its top and bottom and having front and back walls and two end walls defining a soap chamber, said soap-retaining member normally hanging pendent from the base and in superimposed relation with respect to the horizontal floor portion of the base, and swinging on a radius about its pivotal joinder with the base, whereby a cake of soap within the soap chamber will be retained upon the floor portion and will be swept laterally therefrom when the soap retaining member is swung radially upon its swinging arc and will drop through the open bottom of the soap-retaining member.

2. A soap holder, comprising a base having a generally horizontal floor portion and a vertical back portion, a soap-retaining member pivotally joined at its upper end to the upper vertical back portion of the base, said retaining member being open at its top and bottom and having front and back walls and two end walls defining a soap chamber, the back wall of said retaining member having greater length than that of the front well, said soap-retaining member normally hanging pendent from the base and in superimposed relation with respect to the horizontal floor portion of the base, and

.swinging on a radius about its pivotal joinder with the base, whereby a cake of soap within the soap chamber will be retained upon the floor portion and will be swept laterally therefrom when the soap-retaining member is swung radially upon its swinging arc and will drop through the open bottom of the soap-retaining member.

3. A soap holder, comprising a base having a generally horizontal floor portion and a vertical back portion, a soap-retaining member pivotally joined at its upper end to the upper vertical back portion of the base, said retaining member being open at its top and bottom and having front and back walls and two end walls defining a soap chamber, said soap-retaining member normally hanging pendent from the base and in superimposed relation with respect to the horizontal floor portion of the base, and swinging on a radius about its pivotal joinder with the base, whereby a cake of soap within the soap chamber will be retained upon the floor portion and will be swept laterally therefrom when the soap-retaining member is swung radially upon its swinging arc and will drop through the open bottom of the soap-retaining member, the back wall of the retainer and the horizontal floor portion of the base having spaced lands to hold a cake of soap in spaced relation to said back wall and said floor portion, respectively.

4. A soap holder, comprising a base having a generally horizontal floor portion and a vertical back portion, a soap-retaining member pivotally joined at its upper end to the upper vertical back portion of the base, said retaining member being open at its top and bottom and having front and back walls and two end walls defining a soap chamber, said soap-retaining member normally hanging pendent from the base and in superimposed relation with respect to the horizontal floor portion of the base, and swinging on a radius about its pivotal joinder with the base, whereby a cake of soap within the soap chamber will be retained upon the fioor portion and will be swept laterally therefrom when the soapretaining member is swung radially upon its swinging arc and will drop through the open bottom of the soapretaining member, means carried by the vertical back portion of the base to support the soap holder upon a vertical support.

5. A soap holder, comprising a base having a generally horizontal floor portion and a vertical back portion, a soap-retaining member pivotally joined at its upper end to the upper vertical back portion of the base, said retaining member being open at its top and bottom and having front and back walls and two end walls defining a soap chamber, said soap-retaining member normally hanging pendent from the base and in superimposed relation with respect to the horizontal floor portion of the base, and swinging on a radius about its pivotal joinder with the base, whereby a cake of soap within the soap chamber will be retained upon the fioor portion and will be swept laterally therefrom when the soap-retaining member is swung radially upon its swinging arc and will drop through the open bottom of the soap-retaining member, a pair of spaced resilient suction cups carried by the exterior face of the vertical back portion of the base to support the soap holder upon a vertical support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,554,660 Ruskay Sept. 22, 1925 2,723,487 Madre Nov. 15, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 434,023 Italy Apr. 19, 1948 

